Nations Unies CONSEIL ECONOMIQUE ET SOCIAL

Transcription

1 119 United Nations ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL Nations Unies CONSEIL ECONOMIQUE ET SOCIAL UNRESTRICTED E/CN.12/21* 9 June 19^8 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: SPANISH ECONOMIC -COMMISSION FOE LATIN AMERICA SEEECH MAES. W IBS EE'RRESENTATI'VE OF CHILE M, HERNAN SANTA CRUZ Mr. Chairman: At our opening meeting tfce Government of my country, through its Minister of Economy and Commerce, stated Chile's point of view regarding the basic i l l s of the economic structure of Latin America. At a later stage of the general debate our Delegation proposes, as suggested by the Chairman and by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to describe the salient features of our economic scene. It will likewise put forward certain suggestions regarding the manner in which, in its opinion, the Commission should carry out the most immediate tasks set by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Speaking on behalf of the Delegation of Chile, I wish merely to allude to the generous references made in the course of yesterday's meeting to Chile and to myself which I sincerely appreciate. I should like to take this opportunity to make some general remarks which may prove useful in directing the work of this new organ of the United Nations and its primary tasks. In so doing, I trust that Delegates will recognise that my only intention is to place my long experience in the Economic and Social Council, and in the lengthy discussions that gave rise to this Commission, at the service of the Delegations of those countries which were not represented on these bodies, and also to express my fervent desire that the work of the Commission may achieve a success commensurate with the zeal brought to its creation by those Latin American countries which are members of the Council, and with the generous understanding shown by a large number of other countries. Let me begin by saying that not even the initial idea of establishing the Economic Commission for Latin America can be claimed exclusively by any one country. The idea arose as a result of the collective opinions expressed by many Latin American statesmen concerning the urgency and gravity of the problems that afflict us, and is, at it were, a synthesis of American views * This document is a revised translation of the original which was issued in Santiago, Chile, /presented in

2 Page 2 presented in the respective organs Of the United Nations, regarding the need for these bodies to embark on a serious study of our problems and seek adequate solutions. As soon as this idea had found concrete expression in the Chilean scheme, the other three members representing this part of the continent in the Economic and Social Council lent it their frank and firm support, unreservedly maintained throughout the entire course of the lengthy discussions that followed. Here, in the presence of Delegates of all the countries of Latin America, I wish to state emphatically that all the representatives of those nations which have successively occupied seats in this important organ of the United Nations - namely Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and Chile - without challenging the principle of universality which is the essential characteristic of the World Organization, and vhile actively co-operating in the work affecting other regions, have never once forgotten that in accordance with the principle of geographic distribution laid down in the San Francisco Charter they represent not only their own nations but all the twenty republics of Latin America. And while I am speaking of the part played by certain countries in bringing into being the Economic Commission for Latin America, I cannot forget the iinmediate support which the plan received from all the sister countries of this part of America, as manifested in communications addressed to the Secretary-General and in speeches made before the General Assembly of the United Nations; nor can I fail to recall the support of Great Britain, the United States, France, China, Lebanon, all members of the ad hoc Committee which for more than six months studied the foundations of the new body; and of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Turkey, Poland and Denmark, who powerfully contributed to the establishment of the Commission by the Economic and Social Council. Finally, I must mention the important part played by the Department of Economic Affairs of the United Nations, under the direction of the Assistant Secretary-General, Mr. David Owen, in the preparation of the studies which provied scientific and technical confirmation of the statements of those who sought action by the United Nations. Here, in there predicts, it is inappropriate to.enumerate Individual responsibility or merits. This achievement, like all tilinga of value, has been the product of co-operation, collective effort arid, joint deliberation and understanding. But if we wore to mention persons by name, it would be unjust not to refe;. to Ambassador Cai Los Eduardo Stolk of Venezuela, who directed the debates of the ad hoc Committee studying the establishment of the Coknr:.ssion with such authority and tact, to the Vice-Chairman, Mr. Herbert PMllipc, and to the representatives of France, Peru, Venezuela and United S';ates, Mr. Clermont /Mr. Clermont-Tonnerre, f

3 Page 3 Mr. Clermont-Tonnerre, Mr. Monge, Mr. D'Ascoli and Mr. Fowler, who have come here to our country to complete their long and fruitful co-operation. I. also wish to express on behalf of the Chilean Delegation my regrets that Canada, our good friend from the north of the continent, should have decided not to attend this first session. We hope that in future sessions we may count upon the valuable contribution of Canada's experience and progress in the field of economic research. As the Chairman said at the opening of the Conference, it has been Chile's constant concern to help to strengthen the operation of the United Nations, for we believe that the existence of a strong system of collective universal security is essential for the maintenance of peace. In spite of the fact that in some aspects of its political work the results obtained by the United Nations have not been wholly commensurate with the prospects held out, for reasons it would be inopportune to state at this moment, we must acknowledge that the United Nations has achieved successes worth recording; in Indonesia, Iran, Greece, India and Pakistan, for instance, where conflicts have obviously been prevented, some of them containing the seeds of a universal conflagration. It is in the economic and social field, however, that the institution created at San Francisco has carried out its most productive and best organized activities, holding out most hope of the fulfilment of the great design of the men who laid the foundations of peace in 19^5, which was no less than "to establish the conditions of stability and well-being necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among peoples", in accordance with the terms of the Charter of the United Nations itself. This fact must be emphasized and broadcast far and wide, particularly in regions like Latin America, where the absence, up to now, of any direct activity of the United Nations has not made it possible for the economic activities of the United Nations to become as well known as other activities of a political nature. What has been accomplished in little more than two years by the organ of the United Nations entrusted with this task of re-establishing the conditions for peace to which I referred a moment ago, i.e., the Economic and Social Council, is quite admirable. The specialized agencies which existed prior to the signing of the Charter, that is, the International Labour Organization, the International Postal Union and the International Telecommunications Union, and the others created subsequently, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural /Organization,

4 Page It Organization, the Civil Aviation Organization, the International Refugee Organization and the International Trade Organization, have been, or are in process of being, incorporated in the structure of the United Nations, in order to come under the supervision and guidance of the Economic and Social Council. Among these agencies, the Pood and Agriculture Organization, through the agency of the World Pood Council, is rendering tremendous service in the task of dealing with the tragic problem of world-wide starvation, by helping to distribute exportable foods and fertilizers and promoting the production and distribution of agricultural machinery. Since July 19^7 the International Refugee Organization has either repatriated or found homes for over two hundred thousand refugees and displaced persons, and almost six hundred thousand persons are being cared for and maintained. The World Health Organization, in addition to preparing far-reaching plans for fighting tuberculosis and other social diseases, has achieved such significant successes as the elimination of cholera in Egypt after a lightning campaign, thereby safeguarding the Middle East from a serious threat to the health of its inhabitants. The adoption of the Trade Charter, as a result of the Havana Conference organized by the Economic and Social Council, is of unprecedented importance for the promotion and improvement of international trade, and the negotiations at Havana cover more than seventy per cent of world trade. The Conference on Freedon of Information and the Maritime Conference recently held at Geneva are further examples of the effective work of the Council of the United Nations in the social and economic fields. Problems affecting the children - the future hope of the world, and the innocent victime of the war and of social conflicts - have been dealt with and partly solved by the creation of the International Children's Emergency Fund and that magnificent institution "The Appeal for Children", which also owes its existence to the initiative of the Economic and Social Council. The Charter of Human Eights - comprising a Declaration and a Convention - the draft of which is now in its final stages, will protect all men against the abuse of power and against unjust persecution, thereby safeguarding their dignity and their fundamental freedoms. On the basis of the excellent report prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs of the United Nations, the Council undertook at its last session an overall survey of the state of World Economy, and is preparing to adopt decisions and make recommendations on this matter at its next session. The functional Commissions - the Economic and Employment Commission, with its two sub-commissions on Stability and Development, the Statistical Commission, the Population, Fiscal, Transportation and Communications and Social /Commissions -

5 Page 5 Commissions -:havê all carefully studied the various problems on a general scale including all countries.. urgent problems brought about by the war, particularly those of the reconstruction of devastated areas and the rehabilitation of the economies of Europe and the Far ; East, have been dealt with by the creation of Regional Commissions.. The Economic Commission for Europe, which began its effective work before its Asiatic counterpart, has in less than a year achieved such results that Senator Austin, Permanent Representative of the united States, wrote only a few months ago: "It has broken many bottlenecks which were hindering production in Europe, The delivery of coal to steel mills is an example of the vital deficiencies that the Commission is attempting to remedy by means of technical planning and co-operative action." He added: "More efficient mechanical handling and better distribution of coal, are other specific results achieved by the Economic Commission for Europe. Furthermore, its studies and experience have helped to plan the European Recovery Programme (Marshall Plan) and are becoming increasingly more Important in the execution of that programme." All this enormous amount of work in the short space of two years has only been possible, there can be no doubt, thanks to the effective scientific co-operation and the self-sacrificing spirit of the Departments of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. It would be a lengthy task to enumerate the studies, plans and work periodically produced by these services to assist the Council, the Commissions and the Committees. When our Commission was created, it already had available such interesting documents as the "Study of Economic Conditions in Latin America", "Preliminary Report on Conditions in Central America and some Countries of the Caribbean Area", "Economic Development in Selected Countries", and "Survey of Current Inflationary and Deflationary Tendencies", apart from the general "Economic Report - Salient Features of the World Economic Situation", which contains data that will be of great value to us even in our own special field. I wanted, Mr. Chairman, to make this concise survey of the main aspects of the work that is being carried out by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and its field of action, so that Delegates may be able to appreciate the broad scope of the terms of reference given to the Commission by the Economic and Social Council and the great possibilities of achievement we hold in our hands, if we know how to put to good use the powers we have been granted. Paragraph 5 of the Council's resolution of 25 February 19^8, lays it down that "The Commission is empowered to make recommendations on any matters within its competence directly to the Governments of members or /associated

6 Page 6 associated members concerned, Governments admitted in a consultative capacity, and the specialized agencies concerned". This mandate, together with the provisions of the Charter laying it down that it is the duty of the Secretary-General and the Secretariat to perform the functions entrusted to them by the organs of the United Nations, means that the Commission will have at its disposal all the technical and administrative machinery of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies to assist in any studies, research or executive action which the Commission, or the subsidiary agencies which it is empowered to establish, may require to be carried out or may themselves undertake. For it must be borne in mind, Mr. Chairman, that a very important part of the Commission's work must be carried out in the interim periods between one session and the next. It may be that no recommendation of a substantive nature add:, essed to Governments will be agreed upon during this first session, and that recommendations will be limited to the collecting of facts or the presentation of domestic economic problems. On the other hand, there is a broad field of possibilities, wherein the Commission may here and now invite one or more subsidiary agencies - either the Secretariat of the Commission, or the Department of Economic Affairs of the United Nations, or any of the functional Commissions of the Economic and Social Council, or any of the specialized agencies - to undertake the study of certain problems or situations, with a view to adopting at subsequent sessions positive measures within the terms of reference given by the Economic and Social Council. I believe that when we set forth our general points of view and make suggestions for positive action we should bear in mind the points I have Just mentioned, not forgetting the various channels through which we may direct our proposals and the very special and particular character of this Commission as compared with previous conferences in this continent. Our present session, and those that will be held periodically in the future, is not that type of Economic Conference at which the nations represented debate once and for all all the aspects of a subject and reach the maximum number of conclusions possible, in order that these may serve as permanent standards either for Government action or for the relations between nations. Our task is to go on progressively studying the factors determining economic problems, and to adopt measures to deal with them, establishing the essential machinery for such studies, and also, if necessary, for putting the measures into effect. It may therefore be concluded that not only is there no possibility of interference or incompatibility of any kind between the meetings of the Commission and a Conference such as the one on economic affairs /to be held

7 Page 7 to be held in Buenos Aires by the Organization of American States, but rather that each of them will greatly assist the others to achieve results. The studies which we plan for the coming months nay be of use in Buenos Aires, end the findings and conclusions of that conference will serve as guide and model for the Commission in its subsequent work. May I also draw the attention of the Delegates to the Secretariat's constructive suggestion contained in document E/CN.12/U. This suggestion refers to the need for the Commission to have at its disposal, in the near future, a complete Study of Economic Conditions in Latin America, to be prepared by the Secretariat. The document states that the Secretariat lacks sufficient data and statistics to carry out this study. It therefore suggests that "Member Governments may wish to present, during the Commission's first session, as detailed statements as they desire regarding their current economic situation". I do not think I need emphasize the importance of an analytical survey as a basis for any measure taken to co-ordinate or encourage economic development. The fact is obvious and there can be no disagreement as to its truth. Therefore, if we follow the Secretariat's suggestion, we shall be taking one of the most important steps towards fulfilling our task. The mere fact of being able to rely for oui* next session on an informative and technical study as valuable and complete as that on the Economic Situation and Prospects of Europe recently published by the Economic Department would justify all the effort spent in establishing our Commission. I repeat that I consider it would be of immense advantage if, during the general discussion, Delegations were to supply the necessary facts I have mentioned. These elements are essential for the planning of our future work. I conclude, Mr. Chairman, by expressing my hope that the Commission may make use, in the most practical, positive and technical way, of this great instrument which the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations has entrusted to us for the study and solution of our economic problems, always keeping in view the necessity of integrating our economy with a universal system of economic organization. Our country is convinced that the interest of the countries represented here, the ability of the Delegates, and the high level of technical efficiency of the Secretariat, together with the co-operation of the specialized agencies, will produce fruitful results in the very near future.

8